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The Da Vinci Code

“Anyone who hears these words of mine and does nor obey them is like a foolish man who built his house on th sand”
— Mathew 7:26

The Controversy

Dan Brown’s bestseller book, The Da Vinci Code, which was made into a movie by Columbia Pictures, has created a controversy that left Christian believers divided and film makers multi-millionaires. The City of Manila in its attempt to defend the Christian faith banned the movie from its theaters, while our government’s media board allowed it to be shown only to adults.

The objection of some Christians, although they admitted they have not really read the book nor seen the movie but probably heard about it, is that the movie makes a mockery of Jesus and destroys the faith of believers. Although it is supposed to be a work of fiction, some Christians claim that the movie insinuates that Jesus and Mary of Magdala were married and had a child.

Well, this is not really a new claim; it has been there from the very beginning of the Christian movement. But what we could not fully understand is why some Christians think that they would lose their faith if they would come to know that Jesus was married or had a relationship with the opposite sex. If Jesus were human as we are, would it not be possible that he had an intimate relationship with a woman?

Of course, all the canonized four Gospels dealing with Jesus’ life and ministry do not have any account about Jesus being a married person. But it does not necessarily mean that he was not married or had no intimate relationship with a woman. The Bible is simply silent about it. Perhaps, scholars and archeologists would be able to discover later on some historical pieces of evidence that Jesus really had an intimate relationship with Mary of Magdala. But that does not make any difference at all about the faith of the church that Jesus indeed is the Christ.

The Biblical silence about Jesus’ intimate relationship with Mary of Magdala would only show to us the fact that for the Gospel writers it was not important for them to know and to write about whether Jesus was married or single. In the same manner that it was not important for them to know and to write about what happened in the growing years of Jesus’ life. The Bible is also silent about Jesus’ life as a teenager.

What Makes Jesus the Christ

What really touched the lives of the early believers, particularly the Gospel writers, is how Jesus lived his life in obedience to God and in the service of his people. What is important for them is that he “came to serve and not to be served and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mk. 10:45).

What is important for the Gospel writers is not Jesus’ own personal life, but his own public life. What really made the difference in the world is not Jesus’ own selfish strivings to satisfy his own emotional and physical needs, but rather his deep compassion and unselfish dedication to serve the poor and the downtrodden. This is the one that led him to the cross. This is the one that made him the Christ.

Foundation of Our Faith

If our faith would be shaken or destroyed or lost upon knowing that Jesus was married to Mary of Magdala and had a child, then there must be something wrong about the foundation of our faith. What really is the foundation of our faith? Is it simply doctrines? Is it simply theologies or interpretations of the faith? If these are the foundation of our faith, then we are like the foolish man who built his house upon the sand, that when the storm came, the house fell down because it was founded upon the sand (cf. Mt 7:24-27).

The foundation of a strong faith is not doctrines or theologies, although these are important. Rather, it is what God in Jesus Christ has done in our lives. Does our faith in Jesus Christ really change our lives – from being selfish to being selfless, from being greedy and corrupt to being trustworthy and responsible? Or, are we just using religion to pursue our own vested interests and selfish motives?

It is not doctrines or theologies, but changed lives in Jesus Christ that make the difference in the world. This is the essence of our Christian faith. Doctrines and theologies are just forms. They may come and go. And these are shaky foundations if we would make them as foundations of our faith.

However, if our lives have been transformed in Jesus Christ, and that we are living our lives for the sake of others as Jesus’ lived, then we are standing on a rocky foundation of faith. And no amount of “The Da Vinci Code” could ever make us lose our faith.

What is destroying Christian Faith Today

Actually, what is really destroying the Christian faith today is not the likes of “The Da Vinci Code” movies, but the likes of massacre movies, movies portraying sex and violence, movies that the City of Manila are more than willing to be shown in their theaters. These are actually the kind of movies that are distorting our Christian values and making us lose the real essence of our Christian faith.

If we would like to really defend the Christian faith, then we have to direct our attention to that which is really destroying the essence of the Christian faith. According to statistics, since President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo took office in 2001 anywhere from 566 to 601 political activists have been killed. From 2005 to March of this year alone, 143 have been killed. Religious people were not even spared from these evil deeds. Last May 9, 2006, not March 9 as we have previously printed, one of our UCCP pastors in Mindanao, Rev. Jeremias Tinambacan, was again brutally killed by four motorcycle-riding men. He was already the fifth UCCP leader being killed this past two years. And none of these killings have been resolved up to this time. Our country has been regarded as the second most dangerous place for journalists. It is a very alarming trend.

If we really want to defend and preserve the Christian faith, then we have to put a stop to this madness of killing innocent people, simply because they have radical ideas or different political colors, or simply because they have been calling for genuine change. This is the very reason why Jesus was crucified, so that never again an innocent person is put to death simply because of his beliefs and principles in life.

Jesus Christ our Lord was crucified for championing the right to life. He said, “The thief comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come in order that you might have life – life in all its fullness”(John 10:10). #

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